Laguna Beach Independent February 2, 2018 : Page 1

Greenbelt Marks 50 Years of Conservation, Advocacy PAGE 6 | CRIER Differences Boil Over at Roux PAGE 12 | NEWS Download the new Indy app for Apple & Android “Our Town, Our Paper” lagunabeachindy.com February 2, 2018 | Volume XV, Issue 5 PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF LAVINSKY School Discipline Under Scrutiny Again By Andrea Adelson | LB Indy Every year, an average of 36 students at Laguna Beach High School receive sus-pensions for up to five days for offenses mostly involving drugs and defiance. Besides having to make up lessons from losing class time, the student also must shoulder the consequences of discipline annotated in their permanent record. The state’s Education Code grants school superintendents and administra-tors the discretion to suspend or expel students for an array of misconduct tak-ing place on campus, during the school day or at a school-sponsored activity. The code also grants pupils protections, including requiring administrators try SCHOOL DISCIPLINE, page 26 Muralist Jeff Lavinsky during installation of “Main Beach Mandala,” located south of Main Beach. ELECTION Democrats Vie for Status as Pacesetter By Andrea Adelson | LB Indy None of the eight Democratic con-gressional candidates running to unseat Rep. Dana Rohrabacher in the 48th District in November received enough votes to win the state Democratic Par-ty’s endorsement. Winning approval is a coveted trophy among a crowded field of candidates vying to become the party’s stan-POLITICS, page 22 ‘Art Ninjas’ Add Local Color by Stealth By Daniella Walsh, Special to the Independent Two half-spheres covered with sky-blue and white triangles now grace what was once a graffiti-covered, gray cement retaining wall beneath the Cliff Restau-rant near downtown Laguna Beach. Titled “Main Beach Mandala” by its creator, Jeff Lavinsky, they are meant to evoke dream catchers, a Native Ameri-can construct. Now, the mural installed in recent weeks without the land owner’s permission has become a magnet for passersby, but also a source of contro-versy. Though the artwork is located on private property overlooking a public beach, neither city code enforcement officials nor the city’s cultural arts man-agement sanctioned it. Last week, Lavinsky said he learned that code enforcement officials intended to paint out his work by Jan. 29 because it lacked a permit. The artist learned of the threat in a letter from Sarah Reid, a representative of the property’s owner and her mother, Naelda Merritt, of Porterville, Calif. “Mandala” is safe for now since Lavin-sky, albeit post installation, initiated the process of securing the required permit. Its fate is to be decided during the Feb. MURAL, page 20 FINDING MEANING Beware the Unexamined Life The Indy is making space for an experiment, a column on religion. It’s a good idea as 80% percent of Amer-icans self-identify as religious (per the 2017 Gallup US Daily survey). Gallup breaks the believers down as 49% Protestant, BY SKIP 23% Catholic, 2% HELLEWELL Mormon, plus 6% HELLEWELL, page 24